Top



April 4, 50 A, AAAAAAAA LE 2,502,534

p W W? Patented Apr. 4, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOP Alton H. Ragsdale, Hemet, Calif.

Application March 6, 1946, Serial No. 652,444

1 Claim.

This invention relates to tops and more particularly to spinning tops or toys.

It is an object of this invention to provide a top of the type which will bounce while it is spinning.

Another object of this invention is to provide an attractive and novel type of top to bounce while it is spinning and which may be very simply made and assembled at a low cost.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a bouncing and spinning top which is constructed of few parts and the parts are of such a character that the whole assembly is durable enough to withstand hard and abusive use without any appreciable deterioration of the parts.

A further object of this invention is to provide a top of this character wherein the body of the top comprises the resilient means for causing the top to bounce.

To the foregoing objects, and others which may hereinafter more fully appear, the'invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as will be more specifically referred to and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications may be resorted to which fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a top constructed according to an embodiment of m invention,

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the top,

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 33 of Figure 1, and

Figure 4 is a bottom plan of the knurl.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral I designates generally a top, or assembly constituting a top, which is constructed according to an embodiment of my invention. The top I 0 comprises a resilient body II, made of soft rubber or other suitable resilient material. The body II is preferably of a generally oval configuration in vertical section and is formed with a semi-circular annular groove l2 approximately midway between the ends of the body II. A flat cylindrical or discshaped portion I4 is formed at the upper end of the body II.

The lower section of the top I 0 is formed by an inverted dome-shaped sheath or cover I5 made of metal or plastic or any other suitably stiff material. The sheath I5 is adapted to cover the lower half of the body II and is fastened to the body I I by an inwardly extending annular flange or rib I6, formed near the upper edge of the sheath I5, engaging in the groove I2 of the body I I. The sheath I5 is hollow having relatively thin side walls, but having a substantially thicker lower end or tip portion 11. This tip portion I1 is 2 formed with a vertically drilled opening I8 through the apex of the sheath [5.

An elongated pin I9 is carried by the sheath I5 slidably engaging in the opening or guide l8 and extending downwardly beyond the end of the sheath 58 to form a knurl for the top H). Fixed to the upper end of the pin I9 is an enlarged disc 20 which engages between the lower end of the resilient body H and the inside of the tip end of the sheath l5, so that the knurl I9 is restrained from sliding downwardly from the sheath l5 and is resiliently supported against sliding movement upwardly.

In the use and operation of this top H] the spinning is caused by the usual cord wrapped about the lower end of the top, and when it strikes the ground the disc 20 hearing against the rubber body M will cause the top I 8 to bounce several times before settling down.

The exact configuration illustrated is regarded as the optimum, but some of the desirabl results inherent in this disclosure may be obtained by various slight modifications including some departure from the exact configuration shown, and it is therefore requested that the scope of the invention should be regarded as limited only by the terms of the claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

A spinning top comprising a hollow upwardly opening thin walled sheath, an inwardly extending peripheral bead about said sheath spaced from the upper open edge thereof, downwardly convergent side walls on said sheath, terminating in an apex having an axial opening therethrough, an elongated pin slidable in said opening and extending from said sheath, a head on said pin larger than said opening within said sheath and above said opening, a resilient body in said sheath and extending thereabove, said body formed with an annular recess thereabout for engagement with said bead, the lower end of said body engaging said head for resiliently urging said pin downwardly through said opening.

ALTON I-I. RAGSDALE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 575,278 Allen Jan. 12, 1897 867,373 Hoen Oct. 1, 1907 1,059,866 Gropper Apr. 22, 1913 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 547,823 France Dec. 26, 1922 

